Easel-former.



P. A. BECKER. EASEL FORMER. APPLICATION mznfnqv. 1 3. 1914.

1,237,456, Patented Au 21,1917;

Wits wow a L *c. p a .1? i er' 1 w I I PHILIP BECKER, 0E BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

EASEL-FORMER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ang'. 21, 1917.

' Application filed November 13,1914. Serial No. 871,957.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, PHILIP A. BECKER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Easel-Formers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to a class ofdevices adapted to be used in conjunction with boxes. In accordance with the present methods in practice when tobacco products, especially cigars, are displayed for-sale it is customary to either remove the lid from the body-of the box and place the lid thereunder, or the lid is directed downwardly against the back wall of the box'to which it is usually nailed so that the box may be tilted on an incline for display in a show case,.or-on the top of a counter or the like. When the lid is removed from the body of the box it often becomes accidentally lost, and when the lid is nailed to the body of the box the contents thereof is liable to be damagedby being punctured by the nail.

My invention has for its object prlmarily to overcome these objections by providing a device, or easel former adapted to be removably applied to a box having its lid disposed downwardly toward the underside thereof whereby the lid will be held in a manner to serve as an easel, and which consists essentially of a straddlebar or an inverted substantially U-shaped body, or plate having a bridging member, and depending from this bridging member are two spaced fingers, or clamping members adapted to enboth the lid and the opposed wall of W t1; box when the plate 1s gulded over the 'corresponding edges of the box and the lid.

Other objects of the invention are to pro vide on the straddle bar, or U-shaped plate a clip serving to permit a price tag to be detachably held thereon for display; to form the bridging member of a shape whereby a sign may be fixed thereto; and to provide means adapted to permit a sign and a transparent plate to be hinged thereon.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification in Which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, the said invention being more fully described hereinafter, and then pointed out in the claims at the end of the description.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective view, of a box showing one form of easel former embodying my invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken through the box and the easel former shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the manner of using a number of the devices when a sign and a transparent plate are hlnged thereon, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the modified form of easel former shown in Fig. 3.

The device, or easel former has a straddle bar, or an inverted substantially U-shaped body or plate 10 toprovide a bridging member 11 and two fingers, or clamping members 12 and 13 which depend from spaced parts of the bridging member, all of which may be of any suitablesize and shape, though the bridging member 11 is preferably substantially rectangular, as shown. The U-shaped plate 10 may be integrally formed by being stamped or bent from a comparatively stifi' spring sheet metal, or other suitable material, and the clamping members 12 and 13 are sufficiently spaced apart to permit these mem- .bers to be guided over the opposed edges. of

the body of a box, as 14:, and its lid, as 15, after being directed .in a downwardly direction against the body of the box, as shown in Figs. 1 and. 2. The lid will then serve as an easel for supporting the-body in 1 a tiltedposition in a show case, or on a counter and the like for effectually displaying the contents of the box, thus obviating the requirement for nailing the lid to the body of the box as well asenabling the lid to remain attached to the body of the box if desired especially when the device is used in conjunction with cigar boxes.

When the device is applied in this manner to a box the bridging member 11 of the U-shaped plate, or body 10 will be disposed transversely of the edges of the body of the box and the lid, and serving as means to allow a price tag, or sign, or the like, as 16, to be detachably mounted on the device, a clip, as 17, is provided. The clip 17 may be of any desired type, but I prefer to make this clip in the form of a substantially V-shaped finger or tongue which is provided by stamping it from the bridging member 11,and bending the tongue upwardly which in turn is reflexed crosswise of the bridging member 11 of the plate so as to be slightly spaced thereabove. The price tag, or sign 16 is then removably applied to the clip by inserting the edge thereof under the free end of the tongue so as to be held between it. and the bridging member 11 of the plate 10.

To permit a inetalsign, as 24, and also a v transparent plate, as 25, to be detachably applied to a box and its lid through the medium of one or a number of the devices, or easel formers 26 and 27 a leaf or knuckle 30 of a hinge member is attached or formed integral with each easel former at the junction of the bridging member 28 and the depending member 29. The leaf 31 of said hinge is substantially U-shaped in cross section and adapted to receive the glass cover for the box. A pin 33 passes through the knuckle 30 and leaf 31 to provide the customary bearing therefor, and this pin is fixedly secured to the clip portion 32 and has a free end portion projecting beyond the edge of one leaf member. Upon this free end is fixedly mounted another leaf member 34 adapted to be'attached to the sign 24. It will thus be seen that this form of easel holder comprises essentially the body portion having attached thereto a knuckle provided with a pin, two leaf members being fixedly mounted on said pin, one of said members being adapted to carry the glass lid and the other supporting the metal sign. When the transparent plate 25 and the sign 24 together with the devices 26 and 27 are applied to a box the devices are removably mounted on the body of the box and its lid in the same manner as hereinbefore explained, and the box will be supported by thelid in a tilted position, as shown in Fig. 1. The transparent plate will then be disposed to close the open top of'the body of the box, and this plate may be swung to. open and closed positions by guiding the sign back and forth accordingly claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A device of the character described comprising a U-shaped clip adapted to straddle the side of a box and having the central portion of the'bridging part thereof struck up to form a tongue extending substantially at right angles to the said bridge portion, the end of the tongue being bent upon itself until it lies in a plane substan tially parallel with the said bridge portion. 2. A device of the character described comprising a U-shaped clip adapted to straddle the side of a box and having the central portion of the bridging part thereof struck up to form a tongue, a knuckle securedto one edge of the bridging part, a pin passing through said knuckle, and a U-shaped leaf member fixedly mounted on said pin. i

3. A device of the character described comprising a U-shaped clip adapted to straddle the side of a box and having the central portion of the bridging part thereof struck up to form a tongue, a knuckle secured to one edge of said bridging part,-

a pin passing through said knuckle, a U-shaped leaf member fixedly mounted on said pin, and a hinge leaf also fixedly mounted onsaid pin.

This specification signed and witnessed this twelfth day of November A. D. 1914.

' PHILIP A. BECKER. Witnesses:

-R0BT. B. ABBo'rT,

M. DERMODY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

7 Washingtomb. G. 

